Some personal thoughts on today's elections

Election turnout today was low and not surprisingly plagued by instances of fraud and intimidation. 

Elections are a tricky thing in places where there is not a strong democratic tradition, especially in countries emerging from (or in this case in) conflict.  There is a good deal written about the impact of elections on peaceful transitions from conflict, both positive and negative.  There are a number of examples from the 90s (Rwanda, Angola, Sierra Leone and Liberia), and more recently Iran, where elections exacerbated tensions and lead directly to violent outbursts.  But if democracy is what we are trying to establish in Afghanistan, then elections, even with low turnout, are necessary.  Election day tends to be the safest day of the year because all eyes are on the streets, there is a restriction of movement, fewer cars on the roads, and curfews in place.   I don’t know what the situation on the ground is like in Afghanistan, what people are experiencing (intimidation, elation, opportunity, discouragement), or how they perceive the day’s event, but I have a feeling that the act of casting a ballot will be a most memorable moment for the minority of Afghans that were able to safely do so.  I know from my experience as an election observer in Sierra Leone for the August 2007 Presidential and Parliamentary elections that people primarily experienced two feelings: anxiety and empowerment.  Anxiety because there was still a fear, even in the stability of 2007, that there would be violence and intimidation, and that polling stations would be prematurely shut down, denying people their right to vote.  Empowerment because that is the whole point of voting, right?  The tipping point, however, is not the elections themselves, of course, but the results.  In Sierra Leone the opposition party won, and the incumbent vice president conceited defeat.  But in Afghanistan, the legitimacy of the elections is already in question and it doesn’t seem the results will make a difference to the Taliban anyway.  The war will go on and the corruption will continue, but maybe today felt like a change for the better for some.   Flikr photo by Canada in Afghanistan used under a Creative Commons license.